Cool Tools

Simone Davalos has a long and storied history of aspiring to being a technological reprobate. For many years she settled for moving people to terrified delight with competitions and events involving as many different kinds of robot as possible, a move which has landed her in the Guinness Book Of World Records - twice.

Her careers have included, but are not limited to: dive bar gal Friday, assistant marching band pyrotechnician, circus dork, online used car part sales, Survival Research Labs groupie and unindicted co-conspirator. She is now Projects and Tech Support Engineer at Other Machine Co., and when she’s not answering your questions she enjoys placating people with cake.

Children at heart rejoice! Mike Evans has a list for you (and your kids) that will have you playing and learning with a selection of entertaining guides and tools. Mike's picks reduce the initial learning curve of trying to get into a new activity so you and your kids can jump right in and start having fun! To see more of Mike's toys, tools and projects, be sure to head over to his blog, Secret Dad Society.

This week Laura Welcher joins us. Laura is a Linguist, Director of Operations for the Long Now Foundation and volunteer at the Global Lives Project.

This week Erik Knuzten, co-author of Urban Homestead:Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City and Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World joins us with a list of must have tools for self-sufficient, DIY home living. Check out Erik’s identically named website and podcast, Root Simple for more on how to build yourself a sustainable DIY lifestyle.

Our guest this week, Matt Cutts, is a well-known blogger and the head of the Web Spam team at Google.

Peter Rojas is the founder Engadget, gdgt and Gizmodo. He is currently co-hosts MVP, a podcast about new tech products, alongside Ryan Block, a former guest on our show. Peter focused his picks for this episode on personal impact, his philosophy being that truly worthy tools not only change your life, but they also change the way you think about the world. With help from some of the following carefully chosen tools, you may find yourself acting and thinking a little differently.

Tom Merritt's tool selections emphasize streamlining complex or time consuming tasks for maximum efficiency. If you are interested in tools that will shave precious minutes off your schedule, Tom's suggestions are worth the time it takes to listen to this episode of the Cool Tools Show.

Our guest this week is Ryan Block. He’s the co-founder of gdgt, and the co-founder and former editor of Engadget. These days he is VP of Product at Aol, and is co-host of MVP, a show about technology products. Quality and staying power are the primary criteria in Ryan’s list of essential day-to-day tools. His impeccable taste for the tried-and-true tools is revealed in the invaluable picks and advice offers in this episode.

Brett Doar, an artist/maker renowned for his Rube Goldberg machines, shows us some little tools that can make a big impact. He cites both a penny and the humble paperclip as his two most valuable tools. He also recommends an inexpensive 3D printer for making custom components.

In this week's episode of the Cool Tools Show, Gary Wolf, Co-founder of Quantified Self, shows us how his favorite Quantified Self inspired apps help him stay consistent, motivated and aware about his most important daily routines. If you're struggling to keep your healthy habits in check, this week's episode may help you diagnose where those dips in motivation are coming from.